The indie film “Daylight”
kicks off our Horror Thoughts features for the month of October after the
feature film “Hotel Transylvania” kicked off the entire Horrorfest. No two
films could be more different. Well, that’s not really true. A David Lynch film
might’ve been more different than a family friendly comedy involving classic
horror monsters, but the 2010 film “Daylight” certainly steers us into darker
waters.

“Daylight” tells the story
of a couple going to a wedding. She’s pregnant, and they seem to be having some
marital difficulties. They become lost in the country on the way to the wedding
and stop to ask a hitchhiker for directions. He agrees for a ride.

Since this is Horrorfest,
you probably already guessed that he’s not just a hitchhiker. He holds them at
knifepoint until they pick up a second stranger in league with the first
hitchhiker. They take the couple to a country estate. They seem to only want
the couple’s expensive car. But, they’re willing to kill for it until the
husband bargains for his life, offering ransom money from his wife’s wealthy
parents.

But I’ve already gone on too
long about the plot. This is one of those movies that isn’t really about plot.
It’s about the characters. It’s about emotions. Director David Barker peppers
his story with flashbacks for the wife. These are merely snippets and
impressions of events that occurred recently to her. She isn’t religious, but
she seems to be struggling to find some faith. The kidnapping might seem like
something that shatters any possibilities of faith, but she seems to find more
strength as her ordeal continues on. One of the kidnappers is empathetic toward
her; the other is a psychopath.

The filmmakers do a great
job exploring the emotions of these three characters. The husband is removed by
a third kidnapper and doesn’t really factor into the events. This is the wife’s
ordeal. It is her search for hope or salvation. The criminals are lost, but
don’t know it. The filmmakers create a harrowing experience and an ethereal
one. They put us so close in the woman’s shoes, we find ourselves considering
only the details that this pregnant woman would. How likely is escape, really?
Do you play the men against each other? How much seduction is a pregnant woman
capable of? Am I going to die? Will my baby live?

“Daylight” is such a specific experience. That’s something that cannot
be said for most horror movies or mainstream movies of any kind. In an industry
that relies on formula for the sure sale, “Daylight” is a unique experience that
will terrorize its audience in a very personal way.

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About Me

Andrew D. WellsAndrew is a professionally trained actor and stage director. He was a reporter for the daily newspaper The Marshall Democrat-News. He has been critiquing film since Mr. Lucas released the first of his "Star Wars" prequels in 1999. His reviews can also be seen atMarshall Democrat-News